Mums sure know best. Of all the motherly guidance that has been etched into my consciousness, a particular adage has never remained more timeless and timely. It was the very first lesson she drilled into me when I started to watch television at the age of three. When the commercial break from the cartoons kicked in, so did an earful from her: All advertisements are a sham.
So, from a very young age, I've been conditioned to understand that no cookies really taste that euphoric, no coffee will lead me to my significant other, and no cream will solve my life problems. According to mum, advertisers will put out whatever message, no matter how ridiculous, in order to sell their product. Bottom line was if it sounded and looked a little too good to be true, it probably is.
When the Seoul Secret whitening pill ad and its "You just need to be white to win" tagline broke the internet two weeks ago, two thoughts popped into my mind: 1) Duh, that's such a lie and 2) This is an incredulously heinous message to be giving out. It's a ridiculously superficial thing to encourage women to aspire to and had I been decades younger, I can already imagine mum pointing out how discriminating it is and how it is sheer hard work and wit that will get me ahead in the working world, not skin tone. I then come to realise that my immunity to fall for the ad's tagline is all thanks to mum.
While the media does have an important role in shaping and influencing the public and young audiences, in truth, we cannot expect it to be the untainted and spotless voice for the people. It's something to strive for definitely, but in reality, that daydream is anything but realistic, where insecurities are monetised and agendas need to be met. In fact, asking the media to be high-principled is a little like asking supermarkets to stop selling junk food. Along the way, whether intentionally or not, the media is surely going to churn out a lot of absurd things, so this is where parents and teachers are supposed to step in.
Tuning a person's moral compass all starts at a very young age and if parents wait until their children are 13, they've obviously waited too long. When we shift the blame to the media it's misguided, because what's more important than having an ethical media industry is actually having the right set of solid values to begin with. You can bombard people with a million Hollywood rom-coms and skin-whitening ads, but if they have a rock-solid view of the world and self-esteem, nothing can influence or move them.
On top of denouncing that advertisements were shameless lies, mum also made sure that I knew most things that happened in the sphere of movies, soap operas and cartoons were unreal. The unicorn that is Prince Charming, who will come and sweep me off my feet is not real; the life goal of getting rich does not involve snagging a rich bloke; I had no business being stick-thin like the models in the magazines because I wasn't a model, nor was it very healthy to look that malnourished -- these are some of the lessons I've picked up, along with the fact that when you die, you don't spring back to life like in the cartoons. To me, the rules that seemed legit on various forms of media did not cross into my daily life, but it's also because I was ingrained with a sense to be happy with what I have and to always be mindful of everything I take in.
The world is a complicated place and today's online world is even more so. With the new generation growing up in ways vastly different from the way I did and with an abundance of media at their fingertips, parents need to proactively equip their child with the right mindset that will help them weather the waves of social media and internet influence. Be it net idols that aren't exactly the best of role models, violent video games, to picture-perfect photos on Facebook posts, today's youngsters need to be taught how to differentiate between what's real and what's something to not take after from the online sphere.
The grounds parents need to monitor stretches far from YouTube to Instagram, so good luck with that.
Parisa Pichitmarn is a feature writer for the Life section of Bangkok Post.